Tyranny and Mutation
by SludgeMetal666
Summary: AU The prince and princess of Planet Vegeta must stop their parents from taking over the universe. Bra & Goten and Pan & Trunks.
1. Chapter 1

_--Terms--_

_--Network - A collection of planets or kingdoms that have been successfully infiltrated by another planet or kingdom becomes a part of the invading planet or kingdom's network._

_--Colony Files - These are files kept by Planet Vegeta's tacticians. It has databases of information on planets that the empire comes into contact with, whether they've taken them or not._

_--Data strip - This is a small chip, much like current day jump drives, that are used to store large amounts of computer data._

_--Intergalactic Archives - It's the Internet, only it has all kinds of information about the universe. (Not everyone has access to this medium.)_

_--------_

--Okay, this story idea is probably not very original, but I'm writing it anyway. Here goes...

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**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 1**

--Tale of an Empire...

Twenty or so years ago, King Vegeta I reigned over his planet and his people with an iron fist. And he would not hand over his empire to his son until he took a bride. Prince Vegeta had to have a female like no other on his planet. He wanted an exotic wife. So he set out on a journey to find a woman to make his.

Prince Vegeta, along with his two most valued assistants, Nappa and Radditz, traveled the universe, searching the planets under their network to find a suitable wife for the prince. And under their network was the lovely and peaceful planet Earth. They had sent Radditz's baby brother here years ago to take over the planet, but he had obviously not done the job. And though the planet was currently ripe for the taking, that was not why they had come. Immediately setting sights on a beautiful human woman, they ambushed her and took her away.

The prince soon found that this pitiful woman, though much weaker than even the most mal-adapted Saiyan, was quite the firebrand. He never thought that he would be attracted to anything besides her looks, but he soon found out different. The woman, Bulma, had put up a fight with him. She was strong of will and full of pride. It amused him to no end to banter with her day in and day out.

And strangely enough, after less than a year, they found that they loved each other (in some strange verbal sadomasochistic kind of way). Prince Vegeta made Bulma his and King Vegeta I relinquished his kingdom to his son.

During King Vegeta II's reign, Queen Bulma birthed two children to him. One a strong and handsome son. The other an intelligent and beautiful daughter. Each only a year apart in age.

Soon, King Vegeta II became tyrannical in his lust for power. Followed by a race of strong and loyal fighters, he was sure that he could conquer the universe if he put his mind to it. Surprisingly enough, his wife, the genius machinist, agreed with this idea. If her husband ruled the universe, she would be the most powerful and respected woman in all of existence, even without having the super-human powers that her husband and his people possessed. The king's influence over the years had corrupted her.

The children, Trunks and Bra, on the other hand, instead of being raised by their parents, were being raised by a strange race of aliens called Nameks, who were being held captive by the Saiyans. They had trained the young demi-Saiyans in many disciplines, including fighting. It didn't take long for the young Saiyans to become stronger than even their teachers.

But there came a day when Trunks and Bra had to be told of the tyranny of their parents. They were taking the universe over, sector by sector. And that if they went unchecked, they would become so drunk with power that they wouldn't be able to be stopped. Trunks and Bra did not want to be the heirs of an evil empire, nor did they want their parents to become unrelenting tyrants.

The Nameks helped hijack a ship for the prince and princess in which to escape. They alone would have to find a way to topple the power-hungry kingdom.

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--present day...

Princess Bra - Well-known for her beauty, she took more pride in her intelligence than anything else. She had the same talent that her mother had when it came to technology. She was respectful and kind, but straight-forward and she usually kept an open mind. She preferred to expand her knowledge rather than her physical strength, even though she was trained by the Nameks to fight along with her brother. It is easy to underestimate her strength due to her height and somewhat small frame.

Prince Trunks - He, on the other hand, was well-known for what he preferred to be known for. His strength. Though he was very handsome, people rarely even brought it up. So he really didn't know that his possessed that quality. He was confident, nonetheless. He was intelligent, but he lacked both the patience and the interest to learn the things that his little sister had taken the time to learn. He has also been called impulsive. He valued his strength, but the Nameks helped him understand that strength wasn't everything when it came to fighting.

Sixteen-year-old Bra typed hurriedly on the ship's computer as her 17-year-old brother navigated across the galaxies. Before the Nameks helped them escape, she had downloaded a copy of the Colony Files the Saiyans had been collecting over the past 200 years onto the data strip she kept all of her important work on. Four kings had ruled in that time, so there had to be some helpful information within. The most helpful being during their father's rule.

They'd been traveling for days now and it took days for Bra to scan and decipher all the information in the Colony Files. Neither she nor Trunks had slept in that time. They were both much too wary to sleep. They knew that once their parents found out they were missing, legions of Saiyans would be sent out to intercept them and bring them back. They had to be ready at all times.

"After doing extensive research," Bra began as she continued to type, "I found that there are a lot of interstellar systems under Dad's rule. Huge interstellar systems. But there is one that has been untouched by them for over 30 years. And surprisingly one of the planets in that interstellar system is on Planet Vegeta's network. Planet Earth."

Trunks looked over at his little sister. "A planet on the network that hasn't been taken over? Is that what you're saying?"

Bra nodded. "Right. On further investigation of this planet, I found that a Saiyan baby by the name of Kakarot was sent there, but he never returned." She stopped suddenly. "Kakarot? That's Radditz's little brother." She went back to looking through the file she had pulled up. "When a small group of Reconnaissance troops was sent in to see what had happened, _they_ never returned. No communications were ever received from them once they landed."

"That's kinda eerie," Trunks said.

"That's not all. A second group of Reconnaissance troops was sent 10 years later to report on the planet's state, but they never returned," Bra told him. She pulled up another file she had been looking through earlier. "Now this isn't the first time that a planet has caused this sort of problem. There was one about a century ago. Planet Curtos. Saiyans were sent to take it over, but they never returned. It was said that a mysterious mineral deposit was killing all the Saiyans, even though the inhabitants were unaffected. That just may be the case with planet Earth."

"Then how did it get to be on the network?" Trunks asked.

Bra frowned. "I wasn't thinking. Planet Curtos was never on the network, but planet Earth is." She snapped her fingers. "Maybe it's worth investigating."

Trunks laughed sarcastically. "I don't think so. And you just said something about mineral deposits that kill Saiyans? No way."

"That was on Curtos, not Earth," Bra reminded him. "Besides, it's possible that Earth was simply forgotten between the time of Grandfather's rule and the time of Dad's rule. I mean maybe his tacticians just haven't gotten back around to it yet."

"Well, something happened to the Saiyans who were sent there," Trunks rationalized. "Don't you remember what Mandolin told us before we left? You and I are the only ones who can stop our parents from taking over the universe. If we die, that's it. It's all over."

Bra sighed when she thought of their most esteemed teacher, Mandolin. He was a Namek of great strength and knowledge. They both respected and loved him dearly. He was almost like a father to them. Much more so than their real father, whom they only saw a couple of times a week. Same with their mother.

"You're right, Trunks," Bra sighed. "I don't even understand what it is Mandolin thinks we can accomplish. What are we supposed to do? Try to rally enough troops to go against the Elites?"

Trunks frowned as he piloted. "I'm not sure. But Mandolin had faith that we could put a stop to them. And that's what we're gonna do."

They became silent after that. And even though she seemed to have given up on the whole Earth idea, she went into the Intergalactic Archives and started looking up more information.

The siblings were quiet for many hours before Bra found something of interest. "TRUNKS!" Bra shouted.

Trunks went as pale as a ghost and looked at her wide-eyed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Come look at this!" was all Bra could say. She pointed at the computer screen.

Trunks looked on the screen at what seemed to be a newspaper article. 'World Martial Arts Tournament Officials Congratulate Champion' was the title of the article. :What's so special about that: Trunks thought. He looked at the picture of the champion. "It...can't...be..."

"Kakarot," Bra finished his sentence for him. She pulled up a picture of baby Kakarot on the computer. "That is Radditz's younger brother. He's calling himself Goku." She smirked confidently. "Now do you think it's worth investigating?"

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--after several more days of drifting through space...

They landed and capsulated their ship before anyone had a chance to come and take a look around. They would have no problem blending in with the locals because Saiyans and humans were surprisingly similar in appearance. Of course, the Saiyans would have to hide their tails.

"Come along, Bra. We have a long journey ahead," Trunks said.

Bra nodded. She put a copy of the newspaper article in her armor, then put her scouter on and turned it on.

Trunks looked at her strangely. "What are you doing?"

"This is how I plan to find our Saiyan friend," Bra told her brother. "I read that Earthlings don't have nearly the power level that Saiyans do. That's why they sent a baby to clean up instead of an adult or an army. Find the highest power level and we'll find our Saiyan." She looked around for a while and saw that there were several high power levels. "Hmmmmm," she groaned in irritation.

Trunks frowned at his sister, then put on his scouter and turned it on. "Oh... I see what you mean." He looked around for a while. "There are a lot of high power levels in one place over in that direction. Maybe we should start there." He pointed out the way.

"Alright. These inhabitants are generally friendly, so we shouldn't have a problem," Bra said. "But first, I think we should find disguises that make us look more like locals."

--lots of walking...

The two stood at the edge of yet another wooded area. There was more foliage here than either of them had ever seen. It was refreshing to be in such a calm and inviting atmosphere. They had spotted a house off in the distance. It was the only place the high power levels could be coming from. No other dwellings seemed to be around.

Bra was wearing a pair of jeans and a white blouse. And Trunks was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a black t-shirt. They had paid for the clothes in gold. Before they left Planet Vegeta, Mandolin had given them several bags of gold, telling them that on most planets gold was a very valuable mineral. On Planet Vegeta gold could be found almost anywhere and was of little value, except to insects.

"Remind me again, Bra. Why are we walking everywhere? We could just fly," Trunks suggested.

Bra shook her head. "This is all a part of blending in. We don't want to cause a panic or call too much attention to ourselves. As you can see, if our faces end up in a newspaper or something, it'll be all over the Intergalactic Archives. And that's something we can't afford. We want to put as much distance between us and the Elites as possible for now."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Great," he muttered. "As if we don't already have enough to worry about."

Bra sighed. "This is one of the few interstellar systems that hasn't developed the proper technology for high-end space travel. So, what do we say to these complete strangers? 'Hello, we're from another planet. Please help overthrow our parents'?"

Trunks thought for a moment. "No," he said like she had actually been serious about the suggestion. "You still have that newspaper page. Maybe we could say that we're looking for Kakarot because of that..."

"I could have thought of that, genius," Bra told him. She pulled out the paper. "Now the hard part is that we don't know what to do after that." By the time she looked up, her brother was already heading toward the house.

Trunks walked over and knocked on the door. "We both think better under pressure."

--End Chapter 1--

--Thank you for reading the first chapter of Tyranny and Mutation. This is kinda off the beaten path for me, so I'd like to know what you think. Good? Bad? Ugly? Please review and let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

_--Terms--_

_--Elites - An army of Saiyans who demonstrate brute strength and excel in the use of force._

_--Reconnaissance - An army of Saiyans who are trained to scout enemy territory and bring back information._

_--Intelligence - These are all Saiyans who do technical and computational work for the Elites and the Reconnaissance, yet they are kept in the dark about most of the direct military stratagem._

_--Tacticians - These Saiyans are higher up Intelligence who work directly with war plans and battle tactics and who sometimes join the Elites and Reconnaissance in the field._

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**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 2**

--Planet Vegeta...

King Vegeta II - A Saiyan of only about two-thirds the height of his father, he ruled his people with an iron fist. He was arrogant and cold-hearted, but strong. He always meant what he said and always said what he meant. He was a very intelligent and ambitious man who dreamed as all men dreamed. He wished to reign over all. He felt he had the means, and so he decided that he would do what every ambitious man dreamed to do, yet had rarely attempted. He would take over the universe.

Elite Commander Nappa - This was Vegeta's right hand. He worked closely with the king and would sometimes also act as his body guard, though Vegeta did not need one. He, too, was arrogant, cold-hearted, and strong. But he lacked what Vegeta had in spades. Intelligence. He was the head of the Elites, the most powerful Saiyans on the planet who were trained solely to fight. He was also loud, vulgar and obnoxious.

Recon Commander Radditz - As the leader of the Reconnaissance, it was important to not only be strong, but also wise. The Reconnaissance was a group of powerful Saiyans who were not only trained to fight, but also to collect information and anything else worth collecting. He was surprisingly witty and possessed a strange kind of charm, though he, too, was just as arrogant as the king and the Elite Commander.

The three Saiyans sat at the table with all of the members of Vegeta's war council. Several of the high-ranking Elites had joined them, along with some high-ranking Reconnaissance troops. All of the king's Tacticians, and the Head of Intelligence were there as well.

"It is time to finish this," Vegeta began. He looked around the table to make sure all of his council members were paying attention. "Invading the Unnur Sector took a lot out of the Reconnaissance. Several of them didn't make it back. But our numbers are still strong, so we will not concern ourselves with that. Our main concern is that we still have to take that sector." He looked at his head Tactician. "Update."

"Of course, Sire," the Head Tactician said. He went through some papers that were in front of him and cleared his throat. "There are 5 planets in the Unnur Sector with intelligent life. We've taken Planet Hjordis, Planet Valdis, Planet Eydis and Planet Asdis. That leaves Planet Vigdis. Planet Vigdis is the one that gave us the most trouble. Their inhabitants' power levels are very near our own--"

"It was easy for the Reconnaissance troops who were sent to Valdis to take it even before the Elites arrived," Radditz interrupted. "And the planet nearest there needed to be scouted. That planet was Vigdis. And Vigdis was the planet where that Reconnaissance group was intercepted. I don't know how they were doing it, but they masked their powers somehow. Our scouters were unable to pick up on their true power levels. It was like they were ready for us."

The Head of Intelligence stood. "Actually, Recon Commander, Intelligence picked up a signal from Planet Valdis during your inspection of Planet Vigdis. We were unable to contact you. Their wide-spread signal dampened ours. We contacted Elite Commander Nappa and told him about it before he and the Elites reached their interstellar system. We couldn't be too sure what the signal was, so we warned him of the interference in our com equipment."

"And in the meantime there was no way of communicating between the Elites, who were concentrating on taking Hjordis, Asdis and Eydis, and Reconnaissance, who obviously suffered a surprise attack by the inhabitants of Vigdis," the Head Tactician went on.

"You should have known there was trouble when you received no communications from Reconnaissance," Vegeta said to Nappa. "You even received a communication from Intelligence telling you that the ships' com signals suffered from interference. What made you go forward with the seizure?"

Nappa frowned. "I knew how important it was to take the Unnur Sector--"

"There was a great possibility that you could have put more men in danger," Vegeta told him. "Now the only reason I'm not demoting you is because the Elites returned in pretty much one piece, aside from the troops who continue to patrol that interstellar system. The planets we've taken must remain under our control, but we must not foolishly rush headlong into a situation we cannot control." He stared at Nappa as he spoke.

After a long silence, one of the high-ranking Reconnaissance troops cleared her throat. "It seems our main problem is that our ships' signals can't get through the signals used for communication in that sector. If we can't communicate with each other, all of our efforts will be useless--"

"Not useless. Just less comfortable," Nappa said. "We can still take that sector if we hit them fast and hit them hard."

"Nappa, we have to be careful about this!" Vegeta shouted. "We don't know what they could have waiting for us on Planet Vigdis. Especially now that they've received communications of our invasion. And most likely, if _we_ know that our signals are dampened by theirs, then _they_ know it as well. They could be using that against us."

"My Liege," a second Tactician spoke. "If I remember correctly, the queen is working on a new line of battle pods as we speak--"

Vegeta nodded to the second Tactician. "Let her know the situation. We need more advanced communications equipment for those new pods." He looked at the Head of Intelligence. "Do you have some sort of recording of the signal that Planet Valdis sent out?"

"Yes, Sire," the Head of Intelligence told him. "But no one in Intelligence was able to decipher--"

"I didn't ask you that!" Vegeta shouted. "Go and inform the queen of the situation! There is no time to waste!"

"Yes, Your Highness," the Tactician and Head of Intelligence said. They quickly left the room.

Vegeta spoke to the remaining council. "Assuming that we get these battle pods with better communications equipment, we'll need to have a strategy and carry it out to the letter." Nappa looked like he was about to say something, but King Vegeta stopped him. "To the letter. We're not dealing with people who are 50 times weaker than we are. We are dealing with a race of people who could cause great damage. A group of about 20 Reconnaissance troops was completely wiped out. And those are just the ones we know of. We have no idea what could be happening to the troops who are still in that sector as we speak. That is not something I will take lightly. Now, as for the inhabitants of Planet Vigdis..."

--outside the lab...

Queen Bulma - She was a very intelligent woman who was known to build things that no one around could build. She was confident in her work and even more confident in her looks. She knows that there is no one on the whole planet who knew more about technology than she did. King Vegeta II had a lab built for her soon after their wedding and she has been designing different things for the king's armies. She enjoys her work a little too much sometimes.

The human woman was working in the side panel of the new prototype battle pod she had been working on for several days now. When she had a new idea, she usually worked on it pretty much nonstop day and night until it was finished. Currently she was trying to disconnect a big box from the side of the battle pod, but the connector seemed to be stuck.

She pulled as hard as she could, but one of her hands slipped off. "OUCH!" She looked at her hand and groaned. "There goes another nail." She sighed and wiped her brow. "It's almost impossible to stay beautiful while being a mechanical genius," she muttered to herself. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Sitar! I'm gonna need that new heat sensor if I ever plan to run a final test on this baby! Are you listening to me!" she yelled.

Sitar - This is a Namek who works closely with Bulma in the majority of her mechanical explorations. Any heavy lifting that has to be done, he does it. And even though his technological prowess is almost equal to the queens, she would never admit it. As a matter of fact, she has listened to some of his advice when he would make suggestions about certain routes to take in troubleshooting her equipment. From time to time she becomes very upset with him very quickly.

The young Namek came out of the lab carrying a very big part for the new battle pod. "I am listening, Queen Bulma. There is no need to shout. My hearing is sensitive enough."

Bulma looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well, I should have had that heat sensor 20 minutes ago. I don't have all day to upgrade battle pods, you know. I would like to start on other projects too." She pointed to the panel on the side of the new battle pod. "The old heat sensor's cable seems to be stuck."

Sitar walked over and looked at the connector to the old heat sensor. "The heat sensor let the system get so hot that the cable started to melt. I'm gonna need a new cable if I plan on installing the new heat sensor."

"Don't get cocky. It was a simple problem," Bulma told him. She ran off to the lab to get another heat sensor cable. She walked back outside and handed the cable to Sitar. "There. Now let's hurry this along. When you calibrated the new heat sensor, did you set it to the temperature I asked you to set it to?"

"Actually, I thought it would be better to set it to a temperature slightly lower," Sitar told her. "Even when the sensor activates the cooling system, it'll take a while for the cooling system to bring the internal temperature back down. Some of the parts near the processor can't take extreme temperatures for very long. That was what caused the entire manifold to burn out."

Bulma put her hands on her hips. "I know that. Why do you think I had you build a better heat sensor? Everything was burning out too fast on those old-model battle pods anyway. But I figured if I recalibrated the old heat sensors, it would save a little time during mass production. Those old heat sensors just weren't capable of responding to the calibrations I'd changed them to." She folded her arms across her chest and frowned.

As soon as Sitar began replacing the part, two of Vegeta's council members walked over to them.

"Queen Bulma, we have an urgent message from the king," the Tactician said. He kneeled before her.

Bulma turned to them and looked at them strangely. "An urgent message? What is it? And it had better not be demands on the specifications of these new battle pods. I've been working on them nonstop for nearly a week."

The Head of Intelligence also kneeled before the queen. "We apologize for disturbing you, Your Majesty. But this is important news that we only found out today." He stood and held up a data strip. "Please. There is little time. We need for you to come and review the recording we've brought to you."

Bulma put her hands on her hips and looked at them for a while. Then she turned to Sitar. "Continue what you are doing. Once you finish, take it out for a test run. Report on anything that may be wrong." She led the Tactician and the Head of Intelligence into the lab.

--End Chapter 2--

--Hello. That chapter may or may not have been a bore for you. But cheer up. The next chapter's all about the hero and heroine of this story meeting up with some interesting Earthlings.

--Okay. How do you know I'm still kind of a beginner at this? I missed putting a disclaimer on the first chapter. So this will be the first and last disclaimer for this story. I don't own DB, DBZ, or DBGT or any of the characters associated with those series. I also don't own the names of the planets in this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

--A lot of things that happened in the series did not happen in this particular timeline. The Earthlings know little of space travel. They have no idea that Piccolo is from another planet. They have no idea that Goku is of an alien race. The Saiyan saga never happened. And the whole Frieza thing never happened. They did, however have to fight the androids because that was based on Earth. The whole Majin Buu thing was half alien and half earth, so I omitted that too.

**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 3**

--Earth...

Things were quiet on Planet Earth. A little too quiet for two high school upstarts. The two had always heard stories of how the world had to be saved from some threat or another. Things just weren't like that now. The planet had become peaceful for over 20 years and there seemed to be nothing of interest on the horizon. At least not for these two particular youths.

Goten - He was a popular junior in high school. His popularity at school came from the fact that he had won the Teen World Martial Arts Tournament several times. He was very polite and respectful for the most part, though he seemed somewhat naive from time to time. He was not a big fan of school, but he was devoted to his family and he loved to hang out with his niece, Pan.

Pan - She too was very popular at the school because she got runner up at the Teen World Martial Arts Tournaments and because her grandfather was the great Mr. Satan. She stayed in trouble at both home and school, but it was all a big adventure to her. The more trouble she could get into, the better. Her mind was a little 'out there' sometimes and she was often times called reckless.

Seventeen-year-old Goten tossed his backpack onto the floor beside the door, then flopped down on the sofa. "Man, I hate school. It's so boring," he whined.

Pan, age 16, tossed her backpack on top of his and sighed. "You're telling me this like I don't know. Nothing interesting ever happens anywhere." She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "You know what would be cool?"

"No, what?" Goten asked, not really sounding interested in what she had to say.

"If some secret androids or something were being built in an underground lab someplace," Pan told him. "Then we'd have something to do."

"Yeah, but that's happened already, remember?" Goten said. "My dad and brother always talk about that stuff."

"Well, if there was, like, a more secret underground lab where more advanced androids were being kept, that would be really cool," Pan went on.

Goten sighed loudly. "Face it, Pan. There's just nothing to do. Our parents took care of all the problems we could ever face. And now there's nothing to do but sit and listen to them talk about the old days."

Pan frowned. "No pint-sized loser trying to become emperor of the world. No oversized corporation trying to take over the world. No evil King Piccolo trying to rule the world. No underground labs filled with androids that wanna fight it out just for the fun of it." She shook her head.

As she spoke, there came a knock on the door.

"That's just all there is to it," Goten continued for her. "The only thing we have to look forward to is those lame Teen World Martial Arts Tournaments. And we always know that we'll be the strongest there. I can't believe they won't even let us fight the adults. I thought once they made the kids' division that would be as far as they would go."

Pan frowned as she went to the door. "That's no fun. I can't believe that no one in the whole world trains enough to get as strong as we are. It's kinda sad when you think about it."

When Pan opened the door, she saw a young man around her age with lavender hair standing there with a girl, also around her age, with turquoise hair. They looked very much alike, and so Pan simply assumed they were siblings.

:Who are these people? I've never seen them before: Pan thought as she eyed Trunks for a while. :This guy sure is hot.: She smiled to herself. "Just a second," she said aloud to the newcomers. "Hey, Uncle Goten, it's for you!"

"Who is it?" Goten asked from his seat on the sofa.

"How should I know? I don't keep up with who your friends are," Pan told him as she made her way toward one of the chairs in the living room. "I've never seen them before."

Goten walked to the door and looked at the visitors strangely.

The girl tapped the boy on the shoulder and held up a piece of paper to him. "It's him," she said.

Goten gave the siblings a confused look. "Um, do I know you?"

The boy at the door took the paper the girl had. "This guy would have aged by now," he whispered to the girl. He looked at Goten. "Excuse us. My sister and I--"

"--are exchange students," the girl interrupted.

Goten just stared at Bra as she spoke. :She's beautiful...: he thought.

The boy looked at the girl strangely.

"We're foreign exchange students," the girl went on. "We were in the area..." She looked as though she didn't know what to say.

"We were in the area because we saw this article. We're huge fans of...fighting and we really wanted to meet this guy. Do you know him?" the strange young male asked, holding up a piece of paper with a picture of Goku on it.

It seemed to be a news article from when Goku won the World Martial Arts Tournament. Goten looked at it for a long time. "That's my dad. But this article is so old... Who are you?"

The boy shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Trunks Vegeta. This is my sister--"

The girl interrupted him again. "Bra Vegeta. My name is Bra Vegeta." She smiled up at Goten and held out her hand for a shake. "Pleased to meet you."

"Oh, hi. My name is Goten Son. The girl who answered the door was my niece, Pan Son," Goten introduced. He shook Bra's hand and smiled back at her. "Please come in."

Trunks and Bra stepped into the house and looked around like they'd never seen anything like it before. They just walked and looked silently.

Pan had taken over Goten's sofa and watched as the two newcomers looked around the house. "Did you say that you don't know those guys, Uncle Goten?"

Goten nodded to Pan. "They're foreign exchange students. Bra and Trunks Vegeta..." He looked back at their guests. "Excuse me, Vegetas. You seem a little lost. Where are you from?"

"We're from a far away place. A very far away place. You've probably never heard of it," Trunks said slowly. He stopped walking around the living room and looked Goten and Pan over. "I'm sorry we barged in like this. We only just arrived today. My little sister was just so excited about meeting the World Martial Arts Tournament champion."

Bra looked at her brother quickly, then looked at Goten and smiled. "I wouldn't mind entering a little competition like that myself."

Goten was a little stunned by the look Bra gave him. :Is she flirting with me:

Trunks looked at Bra out of the corner of his eye.

Pan hopped up from the sofa and walked over to Bra. "Entering the World Martial Arts Tournament? You?" She laughed a little. "Are you sure you know what you're talking about getting involved in? I mean, it's not a beauty competition. It's for fighters."

Bra frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "Excuse me?"

Trunks smiled and put his hand on Bra's shoulder. "Don't you worry about my little sis. She's been sparring with me for a long time. She's a lot stronger than she looks. She handles herself pretty well in a fight."

Goten looked Bra over. "Well, there's really only one way to find out. There's a Teen World Martial Arts Tournament coming up next weekend. Maybe both of you can enter. It'd be nice to fight someone new."

Pan giggled. "Yeah." She felt for their powers. "Hey. Maybe one of these guys can knock you off the top since I can't seem to do it. Feels like they're pretty strong."

Bra and Trunks looked at each other, confused.

Goten honed in on their life energies as well. "You're right. This may be a pretty good tournament after all." He looked toward the kitchen where their parents most likely were. "I guess I should introduce you to the man you came here to meet."

--in the kitchen...

Goku - He was the ever-smiling, lovable hero. He always ate more than even the hungriest of men. He loved nothing more than fighting, except maybe his wife, ChiChi. Everything he ever did was for her and their children whether any of them realized it or not. Even when he was training his eldest son to fight against the androids and Cell, he had them in mind.

ChiChi - She seemed hot-headed most of the time, but it was just a defensive mechanism. She was a very family-oriented kind of woman who had an undying love for her husband. And though she loved her husband with all her heart, she always put her children and grandchild first. Their education and well-being were always her main priority.

Gohan - He was Goku and ChiChi's first born son. He ended up being a scholar just like his mother had always wanted. When the president of Capsule Corp's daughter disappeared a while back, it became necessary to find a suitable replacement. And due to his academic record, he was more than qualified. He became president of Capsule Corp. He loved his wife, Videl and his daughter, Pan.

Videl - A former tomboy, she was the intelligent and humble wife of Gohan. She used to take care of things around the house, but once their only child started growing up, she began to work at Capsule Corp. Her relationship with Pan was a bit shaky. Anyone could tell that Pan was a daddy's girl and was also a bit of a tomboy, just like she used to be.

The four adults were sitting at the kitchen table talking when the four teenagers entered.

"Hi, kids," Goku greeted, being the first to notice them. "Back from school already?"

Videl, Gohan and ChiChi turned to the kids. All eyes were on the two strangers.

"Oh," Pan said. "You're probably wondering who these two are." She pointed to each of them. "This is Bra Vegeta and this is Trunks Vegeta. They're exchange students." She walked over to her father and put her hands on his shoulders.

"That's Pan's dad and my brother, Gohan. Beside him is Pan's mom, Videl. And these are my parents, Goku and ChiChi," Goten introduced.

"Hi," Bra uttered shyly. She smiled at them.

Trunks waved to everyone. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you." He looked at Bra.

"Oh," Bra said. She stepped forward and was about to say something, but she was interrupted.

"You know, there's something about you that looks really familiar," ChiChi told the siblings.

Bra and Trunks looked confused.

"You know, now that you mention it, they do kinda look familiar," Goku said.

"Where did you say you were from?" Gohan asked.

"Um, a very...well, not many people know this place. It's...," Bra began.

Trunks sighed. "You've probably never even heard of it."

Gohan looked at them strangely. "Try me."

--End Chapter 3--

--Our hero and heroine have to explain themselves somehow. What does the future hold for the brother and sister from outer space?


	4. Chapter 4

**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 4**

--Earth...

Trunks sighed. "You've probably never even heard of it."

Gohan looked at them strangely. "Try me."

Trunks and Bra looked at each other.

"Mandolin," Bra said. "We're from Mandolin."

Videl frowned. "Mandolin? Where's that?"

Bra's eyes got big.

:In your studies of Earth, you didn't find time to study its geography: Trunks thought, referring to his sister.

"It's a small island... No one's ever really heard of it... It's right outside of...green...land," Bra said slowly. She looked away from the adults and looked at Trunks.

"Green? Land?" Trunks mouthed.

Bra only shrugged.

"Greenland? Well, you've come a long way, haven't you?" Gohan said with a smile.

"Welcome to our country," Goku told them.

ChiChi looked at them strangely. "Well, that doesn't explain why you look so familiar. But I suppose everyone in the world has a twin somewhere."

"You coulda told us you were from Greenland. That's so cool," Pan said to Trunks and Bra.

:We've gotta change the subject somehow: Bra thought. She pulled out the newspaper article. "Your turn," she whispered to Trunks. She gave the paper to Trunks.

Trunks looked at the paper for while, then looked at Goku. "Um, yes. The reason we came was to meet you. We wanted to meet the winner of the World Martial Arts Tournament." He showed Goku the paper.

Goku raised his eyebrows. "Oh, that was a long time ago. I'm not the champion anymore. Well, I'm sure that if you've been keeping up with the tournament, you know that."

Bra looked a little nervous.

"Well, we like to do research on these things," Trunks told him. "We wanted to know about your experience during the tournament."

Goten had his head in the refrigerator. "Well, the tournament's so different now than it was back then. It's not even the same anymore. There's all this publicity and different divisions."

Goku nodded. "The tournament used to be a great way to test your skills as a fighter, but now you not only have to be a good fighter, you have to have a face for television."

Bra frowned. "Television? Oh, no."

"Don't worry, Bra. That's just for the adult division," Pan said. "You don't have to worry about cameras in the teen division."

Bra let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright," Trunks said. "That's great. All the greatest fighters in one place." He raised his eyebrows at Bra.

Bra nodded and smiled. :This is convenient. We could begin forming an army easily via this tournament. If that is indeed what Mandolin meant, then we couldn't have chosen a better time to come to this planet: she thought.

"You two are talking like you plan on entering the Teen Martial Arts Tournament," ChiChi stated.

Both Trunks and Bra looked at ChiChi and nodded.

"Oh... Well, that's nice," ChiChi said. She looked at them for a while. "I still think you two look really familiar for some reason. I can't shake this feeling. It's like I should know you."

Videl pulled out what looked like a capsule and stood. "Alright, Pan. It's time to get home so you can get at least a little studying done."

Pan frowned and clung to her father. "Awwwww, but I wanted to stay and talk to the exchange students a little longer," she whined.

Gohan stood. "Listen to your mother, Pan."

Bra looked at what Videl had in her hand. "Um, excuse me. Is that a capsule?"

"Yes, it is," Videl told Bra.

Trunks looked over at what Videl was holding as well. :How could they have miniaturization technology: he thought.

Bra looked confused. :It seems I'll have to do more research on this planet.:

"You know we'll be back tomorrow, Mom," Gohan said to ChiChi. "We'll see you, Dad, Goten." He looked at the two newcomers. "It was nice meeting you two."

"I hope we get to see more of each other," Videl told the siblings.

Bra waved good-bye.

"Yeah, same here," Trunks stated.

Pan looked back at Trunks and smiled, but Trunks barely caught sight of it. Bra, on the other hand, saw it all.

Everyone watched Videl, Gohan and Pan leave.

"So, where do you two live? Are you staying with a family or what?" Goku asked.

"We have our own place. It's not very far from here," Bra responded.

Goten had been preparing a snack and it had given Goku the idea to do the same. Goten turned to Bra. "That's great. Maybe we could walk home from school together."

Bra's eyes lit up and she smiled. "I'd like that. A lot."

ChiChi smiled to herself.

Trunks looked at Bra and laughed to himself.

Goten scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Uh... That is, Pan and I could walk you and your brother home."

Bra played at a button on the bottom of her blouse. "Oh..., well, that'd be great, too, even though I was kind of hoping you meant just the two of us."

Goten looked like he wasn't sure what to say.

ChiChi raised her eyebrows.

Goku was eating by this time and wouldn't even notice if he had been stung by the world's largest bumble bee.

"Speaking of home, we have a lot of work to do there," Trunks said to his sister. He looked at the remaining Sons and smiled. "Thank you so much for letting us know about the tournament and thanks for welcoming us. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

ChiChi smiled. "It's always nice to meet such obviously mature youngsters. Maybe you two could be a good influence on Goten and Pan. They could both use some help in the maturity department."

Goten looked at ChiChi, a little surprised. "Mom," he whispered.

The siblings headed toward the door. "Thanks again," Bra said to them. "You've been so kind to us. We can only hope that everyone else here will be this kind." She was talking to the whole family, but she had her eyes on Goten.

Everyone said their good-byes and the Vegetas were on their way back toward the wooded area from which they'd come.

"Bra," Trunks said.

"Yes?" Bra asked.

"The next time you decide to drool over a guy, try not to do it so openly," Trunks said. He grinned.

Bra blushed. "I was NOT drooling--"

"Really? Then what would you call it?" Trunks questioned.

"Oh, be quiet. He was handsome. I think it might be interesting to get to know him. And he's one of the people with a high power level," Bra said. "Besides, I didn't say anything when that Pan girl was making eyes at you."

"Making eyes? At me? Pan?" Trunks asked. "You must be mistaken."

Bra stopped in a clearing in the woods after not even 10 minutes of walking and yawned. "You probably didn't notice it because you're blind. You'll see soon enough." She pulled her container of capsules out and looked at the one which would be their home.

"I think you're just saying that because you don't want to be the only person who's showing feelings for someone you barely know," Trunks stated.

"Can we talk about this another time? There are more important things to talk about," Bra told Trunks. She decapsulated their house and stepped inside. "First, we need to find out how this planet has miniaturization technology when Vegeta is the only planet in the entire universe that has it. Then, we have to find a way to enroll into this school before anyone finds out that we lied about that."

"There are also other high power levels out there," Trunks said. "We should find the time to check those out."

Bra pulled out her computer and started typing like crazy. "That's true. This planet's revolution cycle in comparison to size is a lot like Planet Vegeta's. That's good. Our sleep schedules will, for the most part, be the same." She sighed. "I just have to know how this planet has capsules when no other planet around has this kind of technology. It's really starting to bug me."

Trunks looked over her shoulder as she typed. "Hey, that place has the same name as Mom's lab back on Planet Vegeta."

Bra pulled up the information and stared at the pictures of the main people who worked there. "That's Goten's brother. He runs the place."

She scrolled on down the page and looked at a section that read, 'In loving memory of Bulma Brief'. Bra raised an eyebrow and scrolled on down to the picture of the woman the page was dedicated to.

--End Chapter 4--

--Thank you for reading this chapter. Sorry it was so slow getting out. It's been, like, a month. I just decided to take a little vacation there for a while. Sorry about that. Please review. Tell me what you think. Thanks again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 5**

--Planet Earth...

They looked at a section on the page that read, 'In loving memory of Bulma Brief'. Bra raised an eyebrow and scrolled on down to the picture of the woman the page was dedicated to.

"Th-that's Mom," Bra said.

Trunks could only stare at the name and the picture.

"That's Mom," Bra repeated.

Trunks shook his head. "No. There's no way. There's no way that's possible."

Bra closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. "Of course, it's possible. Mandolin told us that our mother wasn't from Planet Vegeta. She doesn't look like any of the other Saiyan females either."

"But to find out she's from _here_? You don't find that the least bit odd? That out of all the planets in the universe, our mother is from the same planet we just happened to decide to investigate? It's like some unknown force is pulling the strings behind the scenes," Trunks said thoughtfully.

"Trunks, you're paranoid," Bra told him. "Maybe Mandolin just knew what we would be looking for when we set out. Don't put too much thought into stuff like that. We should concentrate on more important things..."

Trunks nodded. "Alright, fine." He got quiet and started thinking about their current situation and how they would convince the Earthlings that they should fight beside them against the universally powerful force known as the Saiyan Elite army.

After a short silence, Bra smiled. "Of course!"

Trunks flinched, and then sighed. "Don't startle me like that! What is it?"

"Sorry, but I just realized something," Bra said. "The reason Goten's parents insist that they know us is because they must have known our mom."

"Come on. That's a bit far fetched, don't you think?" Trunks asked. "I mean, it's crazy enough that we're on the same planet that our mother's from, but that we've run into people who knew her personally. That's ludicrous."

"Why is that so hard to believe? Goten's brother is the president of the company that our mother obviously used to have dealings with," Bra pointed out. "Why wouldn't they have known our mother? The picture of her is from at least within the last 20 years."

Trunks frowned. "This is making my head hurt."

"It's a lot to grasp," Bra said. She rubbed her eyes. "I'll tell you what. We'll continue on that end of things another day." She started typing on the computer again.

"Didn't you just say we were stopping on that for today? What are you doing now?" Trunks asked.

"I'm doing a little school research," Bra replied. "The more we know, the more we can blend in."

--------

--Planet Vegeta...

Bulma stomped into the war council room, where she was told she could find her husband. "Vegeta, this is the last straw!"

All eyes were on the queen.

"Woman, what are you doing here? I told you never to interrupt a war council meeting," Vegeta said angrily.

"Well, I think I've got more than enough reason to!" Bulma shouted. She held up the data strip that his Tactician and his Head of Intelligence had brought to her.

King Vegeta II stood. "Everyone out. I must speak to the queen privately."

Bulma put her hands on her hips and glared at Vegeta as the entire council retired to the hallway. Once they were gone, Bulma held the data strip up again. "I was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on the prototype battle pod you wanted with all the specifications you asked for. Then two of your cronies come up to me with this--"

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm your king," Vegeta said. "I demand respect."

"Oh, cut the charade, Vegeta. Your band of followers isn't here. And I wouldn't care if they were, I'd still say what needs to be said," Bulma told him. She walked closer to him. "After all these years I thought you would have caught onto that by now."

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "I don't have all day for your incessant nagging. I have important matters to attend to. So say what it is you came all the way here to say." He smirked. "Or maybe you just missed me."

"Hardly," Bulma spat out. "Making last minute changes like this will set me back a couple of days--"

Vegeta's smirk disappeared. "A couple of days? We don't have a couple of days. We need those battle pods with improved com systems in production by the end of the day. You should have been spending your time working on the prototype instead of coming here, you insolent female."

"I can't, bonehead," Bulma retorted. "I'd like to work on something I don't have the part for, but it would take even longer to develop the part than it would be to have it delivered. I ordered it from Tondurae 8. It seems the Unnur sector has an extremely sophisticated communication system, so we'll just have to fight fire with fire."

"This won't do. I want those new battle pods tomorrow, and I won't settle for anything less," Vegeta told her. "Any more time wasted and we could lose our hold on the Unnur sector."

"Well, you can't always get what you want, Your Highness," Bulma said sarcastically. "I'm doing the best I can. If I develop the part from scratch, it'll take about 2 more weeks. Since I ordered it, it'll only take about 2 more days. So just sit tight. It's not gonna get ready any faster than that."

--------

--Planet Earth...

The next day dawned and the siblings still had more work to do. They would have to remember to go out and buy new clothes after school. They just put together some outfits from what they had in the closet of their capsule house. But the latest school fashions here on Earth were sure to be much different. They had no backpacks, but that didn't matter to them today.

Signing up to attend school was the hard part, but eventually they got it done. They didn't, however, sign up for classes. If they were going to take classes there, they may as well take them with people they knew. Goten and Pan.

The young half-Saiyans were sitting at one of the picnic tables outside the school when they heard a voice call out to them.

"Hey, Bra! Hey, Trunks!" Pan shouted as they arrived early for school. Pan was apparently full of energy.

Goten, on the other hand, looked like he'd just woken up. He even yawned as he waved to them.

The siblings turned to the two black-haired students and waved to them. They took seats at the table with them. Since Bra and Trunks were sitting across from each other, Pan decided to sit beside Trunks and Goten ended up sitting beside Bra.

"Hi," Bra said to Goten. She turned to face him and presented a smile.

Goten's eyes seemed to open then. "Uh, hi." He looked away a little.

"You know, my brother and I haven't signed up for classes, yet," Bra began, still smiling. "I was hoping I could have all my classes with you."

Goten looked at her, a little befuddled.

Trunks put his hand over his eyes. :I don't think she could possibly be more obvious about the fact that she likes this guy.:

Pan watched them and grinned. "That would be great. Even though we're at different grade levels, Uncle Goten and I have a lot of the same classes. So maybe all 4 of us could have pretty much the same schedule." She looked at Trunks. "That way, you two will always have someone to help you find your way around."

"Hey, thanks. This is a pretty big school. I can imagine a lot of newcomers get lost trying to make it to class on time," Trunks said. He looked over at Goten and saw that he was still amazed by Bra's comment. He looked back at Pan. "Hey, could you take me on a little tour before classes start?" He stood.

Pan raised her eyebrows and stood as well. "Alright." She looked at Goten and Bra. "We'll see you two in our first class."

Bra smiled at her brother and Pan.

Goten looked like he didn't want them to leave.

Unfortunately, they left anyway.

Bra turned back to Goten. "Would that be alright with you? If we have the same schedule?"

Goten tried to recover from his speechless state. "I... That is... Well, I wouldn't mind. I mean, it would be alright." His face was slowly beginning to turn a little red.

"Good," Bra said, her smile widening. She pushed her hair behind her ears. "Good. I think I'll do that." She sighed. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Goten. I'm not the kind of girl who likes to beat around the bush in most situations." She blushed and looked away. "I know we don't really know each other, but I have to ask this question... Will your girlfriend be angry if you and I have every class together?" She frowned to herself. :That didn't come out right: she thought.

Goten looked confused. "Girlfriend? What girlfriend?"

Bra smiled. :But that was the kind of answer I was looking for: she thought. "Never mind. Why don't we talk a little? Get to know each other."

--school perimeter...

"So, what's Greenland like?" Pan asked, putting her hands in her pockets and slowly walking beside Trunks.

"Huh? Greenland?" Trunks questioned, looking a little confused.

Pan looked at him strangely. "Yeah. Greenland. You know, the place you're from." She cocked her head to the side.

"Oh, I thought you said...Cream Land," Trunks said. :I probably should have told Bra to do some research on this place she said we were from: he thought. "Well, there's not much to look at where I'm from. Not much vegetation and things like that. We mostly rely on our technology in order to trade for goods from other plan--" He looked surprised. "Other places," he corrected. :That was a close one.:

"That's something I didn't know about Greenland. Of course, I don't know much about Greenland at all to tell the truth. I don't even know what part of the world it's in. I never paid much attention in geography class," Pan told him. "But now I've found a reason to be interested." She looked at him and smiled.

Trunks smiled back at her.

--picnic tables...

"Wow. That's unbelievable," Goten said to Bra. "Sounds like your teacher was really something else."

"He was," Bra told him. "He pretty much raised Trunks and me. We rarely saw our parents at all. He taught us everything we know. From fighting to gardening. Everything. Fighting was something I found very interesting, but I have to say that the majority of my interests lie in technology." She pulled out a scouter and showed it to Goten. "We have these devices where I'm from called scouters. They show how much fighting spirit someone has and where that person is located."

Goten looked at the scouter strangely. "I've never seen anything like that before. I didn't know they made things like that. What in the world would people in Greenland need with something that does that?"

Bra's eyes got big. "Uhhhh..." She looked away. "Well, it's like a life energy indicator... It helps locate people who get lost out in blizzards?" She frowned a little. :Bringing this up was a huge mistake: she thought. "Anyway, I made an advancement on mine so that it not only tells what a person's life energy is, but it also closes in more to assess terrain three-dimensionally. Just a little something I've been working on." She held it up to Goten's eye and zoomed in on the location of the school. "See?"

"This is really cool. It reminds me of some of the video games I've played," Goten said.

"Video...games?" Bra asked.

"You don't know what video games are? Don't you have those in Greenland?" Goten questioned.

Bra shook her head.

"Oh, man. You're really missing out. I'll have to show you sometime. If you like dealing with things like this, you'll love video games," Goten informed. He looked around and spotted Trunks and Pan on the radar. "What are those figures? And why are some brighter than others?"

"Well, older scouters used a numbering system for identifying life energies. Now we have a system of identifying them by how bright the images are in comparison to others," Bra said. "The brighter the image, the higher that person's life energy. The brightest images are most likely Trunks and Pan."

Goten laughed a little. "This is funny. You know, I have a different method of locating people by their life energy."

Bra looked a little confused. "You do? Do you have a machine like that here too?"

"No. I sense energies. It's a lot easier than using something like this," Goten said, giving the scouter back to Bra.

Bra looked amazed. :Sensing energies:

"I mean, if someone masks his energy, you'd never be able to find him with something like that," Goten said. "Of course, you wouldn't have to worry about people masking their energies where you're from because if they're lost in a blizzard, they probably want to be found."

--around school...

Pan tiptoed into an open classroom, followed by Trunks, who was walking regularly. The lights were off and no one else was there.

"What are we doing?" Trunks asked.

"Shhh!" Pan whispered. "We're just having a little fun. That's all. This is our math teacher's class. She giggled. "She likes to write on the board." She stalked over to the chalk tray, pulling Trunks along, and looked at the chalk inside. She smiled devilishly. "But I'll tell you what she hates. Short chalk." She grabbed some chalk from the tray and handed it to Trunks. Then she grabbed some for herself and started breaking them into small pieces.

Trunks raised his eyebrows. :What a mischievous girl. I think I'm gonna like hanging around her:

"Come on. What are you waiting for?" Pan asked him. She continued to break every piece of chalk she could find. "You said that you like to have fun." She giggled.

Trunks laughed a little and started breaking the chalk as well. "This isn't just fun. It's fiendish." He broke all the chalk Pan had given him. When he reached for some more, Pan was reaching for some at the same time. Their hands touched and they looked at each other, both blushing a little.

Suddenly the classroom light came on.

--End Chapter 5--

--Thanks for reading this chapter of Tyranny and Mutation. I see that I'm not getting many reviews for this story, but for those of you who are reading and reviewing, thank you. I don't care if there's only one person out there who likes this story, I'm gonna keep writing. And _I_ like it, so that's enough to keep me writing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Tyranny and Mutation**

**Chapter 6**

--------

--Planet Earth

--------

--math teacher's classroom...

Suddenly the classroom light came on. The math teacher stood by the door with her hands on her hips. "What are you two doing in here?"

Trunks was speechless.

Pan smiled a little nervously. "Hey, Teach. I was just showing the new guy around the school."

"Hm. For some reason, I'm having a hard time believing you, Ms. Son," the teacher told her. She walked farther into the classroom.

Pan moved so that she was standing between the teacher and the chalk tray. "Come on. I don't see why you wouldn't believe me. I mean, have you ever seen this guy before?"

Trunks looked at Pan out of the corner of his eye. :This is obviously an authority figure. How can Pan talk to this woman like this? Is she going to talk us out of trouble somehow? We're caught red-handed: he thought.

The math teacher looked Trunks over. "Actually, I haven't--"

"See? There you have it," Pan said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I still have a lot of school ground to cover before classes begin." She grabbed the sleeve of Trunks' shirt and started dragging him out of the classroom. Once she closed the door behind them, Pan looked at Trunks with a smile. "Am I smooth or what? She didn't even notice her chalk."

Trunks laughed a little. "I've gotta admit. That was pretty cool how--"

Suddenly the math teacher called out, "Pan Son! You and your practical jokes! I should have known you were up to something!"

Pan gasped and grabbed Trunks' hand. "Busted. We'd better get lost until this thing blows over." She quickly led them out of sight.

By the time the math teacher got the door open and looked into the hallway, the two juveniles were already gone.

--picnic tables outside...

"Well, like I said, we don't live very far from you guys. Maybe you and Pan could stop by today," Bra said to Goten. :It would be a good time to start getting them introduced to the idea of alien civilizations. We'll have to be careful about the way we do it. If we ease them into the concept slowly, they may be more accepting of the idea: Bra thought.

"I guess that would be alright. As long as we tell our parents where we are... Hey, you said that you guys live by yourselves, right?" Goten asked.

Bra looked at him and nodded.

"You know, you're the first high school kids I've ever heard say that you live alone," Goten went on. "I've never heard of anything like that. I mean, it's really cool and all, but how do you get into a foreign exchange program like that without being sent to live with a family?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Uhhhh...," Bra began. She had to think of something and fast. "In Greenland, our exchange program is a little different..."

Goten folded his arms across his chest. "I don't know. For some reason, I'm starting to believe there's something you're not telling me." He thought for a while.

Bra was worried now. :I really hate lying to this perfectly good guy. And now he's found me out. What if he starts hating me once he finds out I've been lying to him all this time: she thought.

"I've got it!" Goten said. He looked at Bra for a moment, then smiled. "You're considered adults where you're from, aren't you? That's the reason you two can live on your own."

"Yes. That's exactly it," Bra told him. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The first bell rang just as Pan and Trunks jogged over to them.

Goten looked at Pan and frowned. "I know that look. You've been doing something you weren't supposed to do, haven't you?"

Pan smirked. "I'll never tell." She looked at Trunks.

Trunks was smiling as well.

Goten stood. "We'd better head to class."

--after school...

Pan had gotten into trouble with their math teacher. The teacher knew that keeping Pan after school would do no good, but she kept her anyway. Trunks didn't get in trouble for being a witness to the crime because Pan had taken full responsibility for it.

While their math teacher held Pan after school, Trunks and Bra signed up for classes and received their schedules. They had almost all of their classes with their newfound friends. It had turned out relatively well. Of course, Trunks had more classes with Goten than he had with either Pan or Bra. And Bra had more classes with Pan than she had with Goten or Trunks. But that would be fine as long as they had people they knew around.

The four teenagers were currently walking toward Trunks and Bra's home.

"Hey, thanks for taking the fall for me with that teacher," Trunks said to Pan as they walked side by side. "You know, you didn't have to do that."

Pan laughed a little and shook her head. "Think nothing of it. There was no need for you to get into trouble on your first day anyway."

Bra and Goten walked side-by-side a little behind Trunks and Pan. Bra giggled to herself.

Goten looked at Bra. "What is it?"

"Those two," Bra said. "I think that somehow they've reached a common ground. Trunks is what I like to call a free spirit and Pan seems to be as well."

Goten laughed a little. "Pan's more than just a free spirit. She's a live wire. I've never been able to keep up with her myself. She's really...'out there'. I'm always hanging out with her, but I'm more of a..." He couldn't seem to find the right words.

"Take it easy type?" Bra asked, giving him a look.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I like to have fun as much as anyone else, but Pan prefers to live on the edge," Goten told Bra.

"Just like Trunks. He'll do some things just to get a charge," Bra said. "He and I are always together, but we always seem to be on a different page. He can be pretty impulsive while I'm more..." She couldn't think of exactly what it was she wanted to say.

"Calculating?" Goten suggested.

"Calculating? I don't know if that was the word I was looking for," Bra stated.

"Well, I just noticed in class how organized you were. You don't even have any books or anything, yet you were taking notes," Goten said. "And I can tell by the way you say things and the way you move that you think a lot."

Bra blushed and smiled. She couldn't believe that he had been paying so much attention to the things she did. "I'm flattered that you noticed so much about me after such a short period of time."

Goten looked away. "Well, it's...pretty obvious." He cleared his throat.

Pan stopped walking suddenly. The group had made it to the edge of town. "Hey! I've got an idea," she said. "Since your life energies are so high, Goten and I could teach you to fly."

"Hey, that rhymed," Bra told Pan, giggling a little.

Pan laughed. "It did, didn't it?"

"Yeah. But hey, we already know how to fly," Trunks told them.

Bra looked at her brother, surprised by the information he'd just volunteered.

Pan looked a little surprised and put her hands on her hips. "You already know how to fly? Then what are we walking for? Let's take off." As she was speaking, she was already up in the air.

Trunks was right behind Pan. And Bra followed soon after.

Goten looked amazed. "This is so weird." He took off after them.

--Bra and Trunks' capsule house...

After they arrived, Bra suggested that Pan and Goten have a seat in their living room.

Pan commented on the style of the house and looked around at the furnishings strangely. "This is like nothing I've ever seen," she stated as Bra dragged Trunks toward the kitchen.

Goten was taking a look around as well. "It's most likely all from their home country."

Trunks frowned once he and his sister entered the kitchen. "What is it? What's your problem?"

Bra signaled for her brother to keep his voice down. She closed the kitchen door and put her hands on her hips. "Trunks, you shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?" Trunks asked, looking confused.

"Regular Earthlings don't fly. We're here posing as regular Earthlings," Bra told him.

"Oh, come on, Bra. They already somehow know that we have a higher power level than regular Earthlings," Trunks said. "I don't see what all the fuss is about."

Bra put her hand on her forehead. "They can somehow sense people's fighting powers. I don't understand that part of it, but something like that could come in handy later." She sighed. "Listen, we have to be careful with this. If we make one wrong move, they may not be willing to cooperate when the time comes. They may not even believe us."

Trunks folded his arms across his chest. "I think that since we ran into people who are close to our age, they may take what we have to say seriously."

"They have no idea about space travel. Their government is hiding the fact that aliens really exist. They're under the impression that they're the only form of intelligent life in the universe," Bra said. "We have to be careful. We have to be understanding of their responses. And we have to make sure that they believe and understand what it is we need for them to understand. They have to understand that we're not from Earth. Not only that, but that THEY'RE not from Earth. Not completely. Because Goten's father, Pan's grandfather, is from another planet."

"You're forgetting something," Trunks said with a smirk.

Bra raised her eyebrows.

"You and I are part Earthling," Trunks reminded her. "We could use the fact that their parents might know our mother to help convince everyone of what's going on."

Bra laughed and threw her arms around her brother. "Trunks, you're a genius."

--back to the living room...

Pan was pushing buttons on the TV remote.

Goten was trying to get it from her, but she kept moving out of the way. "Pan, you're gonna break something if you keep pressing those buttons. This is most likely a Greenland television. To get it replaced would probably cost more than either of us is worth."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. And right now I'm looking for the Music Video Station," Pan told him.

Goten held up his hands and took a seat on the sofa.

As soon as Pan got comfortable surfing through the TV stations, Bra and Trunks came back into the living room. The siblings looked at each other, then at Goten and Pan.

"We have to talk," Bra began.

--End Chapter 6--

--I'm always ending these in bad spots. Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm not gonna lie, I put this in the action/adventure category, but there's not much action or adventure going on. Once we get past all the introductions and set ups and things like that, the "actioning" and "adventuring" will begin. Until then, we'll all just have to be a little patient.


End file.
